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I’ve got a confession. Not too far in the distant past, I didn’t know Chardonnay from Cabernet. I am a bit of a foodie, however, and love food festivals. But when it comes to food and wine festivals, I am a wee bit intimidated. Until I attended the Flavor! Napa Valley 2012 Festival last November, and I’m now looking forward to this year’s third annual event.

What makes this festival unlike most other wine festivals in North America is that you come to the source — nothing is imported. Here you are in Napa Valley’s kitchens and farms of local chefs and vineyards of local winemakers. You can stroll through the vineyards and experience a newly harvested wine, or attend a hands-on cooking class at a local restaurant and the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone.

If you’re a wine newbie like me, the Appellation Trail and Top Taster event will boost your confidence with wine, and you’ll discover that tastings are fun. “Our wines can’t wait to meet you,” said the first winemaker I met at the Appellation Trail, which is the big kickoff event to the festival. I was about to meet many wines that evening: dozens of restaurants are trying to out-do each other with walk-around tastings and more than 100 wineries are pouring all under one roof at the institute.

This event is a chance to get to know what Napa Valley and its sub-appellations (geographical areas) offer. And you can’t help but meet people.

I join a group chatting (I’m listening) about different styles of Cabernet.

Mary hands me her business card that says it all: “Wine Fanatic.”

Mary has come to the festival both years and plans on returning this November.

“I’ve picked up so much knowledge chatting to wine experts. I learned that Chardonnay is perfect with popcorn,” she says, laughing. “Or if your mouth is salivating like a shower that is a good indication of acidity.” Good to know. “I just love to rub shoulders with everyone and it’s great to come back and see familiar faces,” she adds.

Last year I rubbed shoulders with Stephanie Watson and her mother Joanne Rusch, from Michigan. Stephanie first got interested in wine when a friend took her to dinner and ordered a bottle of Bordeaux. “He introduced me to Old World wines and I fell in love with the idea of learning about wine,” she says. “At the same time my mom was travelling to San Francisco for work and falling in love with New World wines. We started sparring with each other at family get-togethers, and we educated each other. It is fun to have someone to share with.” In a nutshell, that’s what the festival is all about — learning and sharing. And having fun.

“It’s a great opportunity to meet like-minded people who love to talk about their passion and share their knowledge,” Stephanie adds.

People like Andrea Robinson, sommelier and host of the Top Taster event, has some advice for wine “newbies.”

“First, come with an open mind. You may think you don’t like Chardonnay, but be willing to try it again and you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised,” says Andrea. “One event is a 10-year vertical tasting — you get to taste 10 years of the same wine and see how that wine changes over 10 different vintages — grown over the same land can be so different.” Chances are you won’t get that experience at a restaurant or wine store.

At The Top Taster event, several professional wine tasters do a blind tasting, figure out what the wine is and compete for the top taster accolade. Then everyone tastes the exact same lineup of wine and gets pointers on how to deduce what they are by sight, smell and taste — your own CSI. “This event showcases sommeliers’ talents, just like chefs are front and centre at culinary demos,” says Andrea.

And you get to taste great wines. Chances are you’ll have more confidence talking to a sommelier next time you dine out.

The Terroir to Table events are very much hands-on.

For instance, even though all the grapes are picked by November, you can still partake in a blending session.

If you like your creation, you get to cork a bottle, slap a label on it and take home your own personal blend of wine.

Want to know why you like the wines you like?

Tim Hanni, master of wine, is one host not to be missed by wine newbies. He demystifies wine and debunks myths such as drinking only white wine with fish. Rather, learn to match the wine to the diner, not the dinner. In other words, drink what you like.

For foodies: How about a hands-on workshop in preserving foraged foods? Or join three beekeepers, three chefs and throw a winemaker into the mix for a hive and farm experience. Not to be missed are the demos at the CIA, always lively and fun, and inspiring. Last year I attended pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini’s “Using Vegetables in Desserts,” bought his cookbook and have been making vegetable desserts ever since. The Terroir to Table event offers more than a dozen farm, cellar and kitchen experiences.

This year the festival runs from Nov. 20-24. I stayed at the Silverado resort and took advantage of the shuttles to and from the events — that way, you don’t have to worry about driving home. There’s only one problem with the festival: deciding which events to attend. But there’s always next year.

If You Go

How to Get there:

From San Francisco airport options are slim. The festival organizers recommend a rental car: even though Napa Valley is a well-known travel region, it is still a rural agricultural community, with sporadic public transportation.

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